On February 9, 1961, The Beatles made their debut at "The Cavern Club" in Liverpool, England. (Photo: Beatles Random Facts Facebook) The band has already made quite a few appearances at nightclubs in Hamburg, but this is the first time they have performed at the mythical club in their hometown. The one who managed to get the Beatles members the show is Mona Best, the mother of the band's drummer at the time, Pete Best. Rumor has it that she even had to beg the owner of the club to allow the band to perform there, and even then it was a lunchtime performance. The Cavern Club, located on Mathew Street in Liverpool, was founded in 1957 as a club where jazz music was played. John Lennon played there in 1957 with his band "The Quarrymen" who played mostly Skippel. At the time the club banned playing rock 'n' roll music and when at one of the shows Lennon sang a song by Elvis the owner simply resented him. However the 1960s brought with them winds of change, the owner changed the policy and in 1961 the Beatles settled into the iconic club and played raw tough rock and roll there. (Photo: Dick Matthews) George Harrison said that during the band's breaks they ate sandwiches on stage and drank tea. They received only £ 3 for the show. Paul McCartney noted in the Beatles' 1995 anthology book that the band's first appearances were barely attended by people, but later the rumor spread and it was not long before the band moved on to perform at night when the club exploded to capacity. Beginning with the same historic performance held on February 9, 1961, the band performed at this club close to 300 shows, in a period of only about two years. Then the club became already "small on them". For a performance at the club exactly 9 months later, on November 9, 1961, Brian Epstein will arrive. During a customer's random visit to his record store Brian was asked if he had Tony Sheridan & The Beatles' "My Bonnie" single. This was enough to pique the curiosity of Brian who came to the Cavern Club to watch them perform. After the show he will meet with The Beatles members and soon after he will become the band's organizer. It is interesting to note that a year later on February 5, 1962 Ringo Starr would make his debut with The Beatles at the exact same club. That was the day Pete Best was sick and Ringo joined the lunchtime show. Later that evening he joined the band for a performance in the city of Southport located north of Liverpool. We jump 6 months forward to August 14, 1962 this is the day Ringo accepted John Lennon's invitation and officially joined the band. He would make his first appearance with them on August 18, 1962. This performance was also held at The "Cavern Club". Four days later, a similar performance will be partly recorded there: February 9 is probably a "cosmic" date for The Beatles 'since on this day in 1964 they made their first live appearance on American television' as part of the "Ed Sullivan Show" program. It was a "historic" and hysterical performance that swept an entire nation into the madness of The Beatles. During the program, the band members played 5 songs to the screams and roars of the audience. The Beatles and their manager Brian Epstein managed to hide well the fact that George Harrison was ill that day with tonsillitis. He had a fever, was shaking and could not reach the sound check at all. Despite that, this show conquered America and turned the band into a meteor. Since then, February 9 will be remembered as a very special date in the history of The Beatles. Moreover, the number 9 will become a kind of obsession of John Lennon and below is only a partial list in which the number communicates with him: 1. He was born on October 9th. 2. Lennon Sean's son was also born on October 9 and shares a birthday with him. 3. The first house he lived in was at 9 Newcastle Street. 4. The first performance at Cavern as we wrote here on February 9th. 5. Brian Epstein first saw them as we wrote exactly 9 months later on November 9th. 6. The band's contract with EMI was signed on May 9, 1962. 7. The song "Dream # 9". 8. The song "Revolution # 9". 9. The song "One After 909". 10. Lennon and Yoko lived in apartment 72 in the Dakota 72 building multiplied by 9 and 7 + 2 = 9. 11. Lennon passed away on December 8 but at the time of Liverpool it was on December 9. "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

Editor's Choice... And this time... "Fire Down Under", Riot's third studio album, released on February 9, 1981. We have written and talked many times during our show about the "pendulum" in the global music market, moving over the years between the two sides of the ocean. Between England and the US exporting and importing influences and musical trends from side to side. So our recommendation today, is a great album by an American band, that could easily be at the forefront of the new wave of British heavy metal in the UK, or in short (NWOBHM). This is an album, that in our humble opinion, every Metalist must have in his album library, if only to understand in depth the development of the Metal genre and to acknowledge the fact that the American continent was also a part of it. This amazing album is a School for Heavy Metal. It features great riffs and songs, including one "mega-riff" that would be "borrowed" by "Accept" a year later in the song " Flash Rockin' Man " and later on would be "borrowed" again by "Iron Maiden" In the song " 2 Minutes To Midnight ". Can't believe it? Watch and listen to the video: Curious? So for those unfamiliar, "Riot" is an American Heavy Metal band formed in New York in 1975, by guitarist Mark Reale and drummer Peter Bitelli. The two added bassist Phil Feit and singer Guy Speranza, to complete the band's initial line-up. They recorded a demo that included four songs and that was enough to get the attention of the private label "Fire Sign Records", who immediately signed them on a recording contract. The band released their first album "Rock City" as early as 1977, but the album failed commercially and the band thought of breaking up. But then something wonderful happened !!! The NWOBHM was rising in the UK and sent tsunami waves that reached as far as the other side of the ocean, managed to breathe fresh air into the band and cause them to release their second album "Narita", which was released in 1979. The reviewed album is the band's third and probably also the most successful for "Riot", which has gone through several incarnations since then and is called today "Riot V". To date, the band has released 16 studio albums, the most recent of which is "Armor of Light" from 2018. It's amazing to think that "Capitol" record company refused to release this album, because it was "too heavy" (and we are talking about the year 1981 in the US). Eventually, after much pressure from fans and the band's management, "Capitol" gave up the rights to "Electra" and the album was eventually released. On this album, the band continues with the line that started with their first two albums "Rock City" and "Narita", only this time they found the ultimate combination of perfect writing, cohesive and tight playing and accessible production, that will make this album the band's most successful. There are no weak songs here. This album flows wonderfully throughout and sounds fresh and relevant even today. The opening song " Swords and Tequila " invented the mighty mega-riff which as we mentioned will be "borrowed" by "Accept" and later by "Iron Maiden". A dynamic song with a sweeping rhythm and catchy chorus. " Fire Down Under " boosts the rhythm with a huge burst of energy on the verge of Speed Metal. The song features amazing guitar work and frantic solo exchanges by the duo Mark Reale and Rick Ventura. " Feel the Same " puts us in a dark atmosphere with a riff that corresponds with Doom Metal, and a solo that in part reminded us of the work of Uli Jon Roth in his time with "Scorpions". " Outlaw " is one of the most bouncy and fun on the album, with a riff so simple and catchy that immediately makes you jump out of your chair and shake your head. Here, too, the solos in part reminded us of the "Scorpions" of the 1970s and early 1980s. " Don't Bring Me Down " seals the first side of the album with another fast song on the verge of Speed Metal, until the bluesy solo where the rhythm get slower. " Don't Hold Back " opens the other side of the vinyl with another amazing riff and excellent work by the rhythm section and especially by bassist Kip Leming. The epic track " Altar of the King " opens with a quiet instrumental intro that reminded us of "Rainbow". Guy Speranza, who co-wrote 8 of the ten songs on the album, is a powerful and tremendous singer. He is inspiring and it is clear that he gives everything he has. " No Lies " opens quietly with arppegio chords, and later develops with a riff that is very reminiscent of "Paranoid" by "Black Sabbath's", but still manages to excite and innovate. " Run for Your Life " takes us back to the Speed Metal Punk-Rock area, with a distinct "Iron Maiden" riff from the Paul Di'Anno era. The album ends up with an interesting outro called " Flashbacks ", consisting of feedback, part from live shows and interviews, presented on a bed of "Van Hellenic" solo guitar which later develops into a rhythmic and cool instrumental piece that ends in a fade out and leaves us with a taste of more of this wonderful thing called "Riot". The album cover includes, as with most of the band's albums, a p[icture of a seal, that has become the bands "mascot". This album is one of the few American responses to NWOBHM which in some ways is ahead of its time in relation to the development of the genre on the other side of the ocean. It's an excellent album that is important for any "metalhead" to recognize, if only to acknowledge the existence of an excellent American alternative to the revolution that will emerge in Britain shortly thereafter. For Listening: Spotify , Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

On February 9, 1970, "The Doors" fifth studio album, "Morrison Hotel", was released. So, "Morrison Hotel" is a real hotel in downtown Los-Angeles, where the front cover of "The Doors" fifth album was also shot. The album is also known as "Hard Rock Café" - as the name of the first side of the vinyl record, where the back cover was also shot - in the "Hard Rock Café" chain located on East 5th Street Los Angeles. after being criticized following their previous album " The Soft Parade " released in 1969, the band left the psychedelia influences almost completely and returned to its roots, back to the blues. This sound change of the band really paid off, since "The Doors" got both critical and commercial success, when the album reached the top 5 in the US album chart and also became the band's highest charting album in the UK. However, these impressive results were not reflected from the creative process. It can be said that on this album the band began it's "disintegration" process. Jim Morrison was involved in composing all the songs on the album and actually wrote about half of the album's songs on his own. However, the rest of the band could no longer bear him at that time. Rehearsals and recordings were not easy. Jim Morrison and guitarist Robby Krieger even got into a fight because Morrison insisted on giving writing credit for one of the songs to his friend from his film school days, since he helped him write it. No singles or big hits were released from this album. However, although the album did not include any "hits", it had some good songs, in particular the amazing opening song, " Roadhouse Blues ", which is undoubtedly holds a very high score in the band's rich repertoire. The song opens with the rough, sweeping and catchy guitar riff, accompanied by session bass player Lonnie Mack, playing over Ray Manzarek's piano bass. John Sebastian's from the band "Lovin 'Spoonful" plays harmonica on this song that undoubtedly sets the tone for the blues-rock style that dominates the rest of the album. True, " Roadhouse Blues " is probably the highlight of this album, which only gets weaker as it progress, but still this is one of the band's classic albums. The album also includes two songs recorded during the sessions for band's previous albums: the first, " Indian Summer " which is one of the first songs the band recorded back in 1966 - while recording their debut album. The song was influenced by a car accident that Jim Morrison witness as a four-year-old, when he was on his way to Mexico with his family. A number of Indians were killed in the accident and Morrison was quoted as saying that their souls left their bodies and jumped into his soul. The second song, " Waiting for the Sun " was recorded while recording the album "Waiting For The Sun", which was released in 1968, only the band did not like the way it sounded at the time and this time returned to work on it with more vigor and desire. Other interesting songs: The fourth track " Peace Frog " with Robbie Kreiger's funky guitar riff, written in the studio and includes the words "Blood in the streets of the town of New Haven" referring to Morrison's arrest on stage in New Haven in 1967. The fifth track is " Blue Sunday ", which is a pure ballad with the light organ by Ray Manzarek and the beautiful guitar sentences emanate from Robby Krieger's guitar. The eighth song " The Spy " that takes the band as far as possible in terms of style, straight to the jazz nightclub scene. This song is just great. It's different from anything else "the Doors" have ever recorded. Jim Morrison's singing is beutiful and powerful, while the lyriucs walk the fine line between love and manipulation. For Listening to the album: Spotify , Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

Written By: Moti Kupfer Release date - 09.02.2004 “I don’t dance, I don’t dance when I’m sad. I don’t dance, I don’t dance when I’m sad,” sings Arkadi Duchin to lyrics by Micha Shitrit and Alon Olearchik. So how is it possible to be sad, especially with rock songs that make you want to tear up the dance floor? Yes, yes, songs like those of “Franz Ferdinand”, whose debut album was released on 09.02.2004. People always claim that Scots are serious and gloomy, and that even when guitars are slicing through the night in their hands, melancholy still coats the overall picture. But that could not be further from the case with Alex Kapranos, Nicholas McCarthy, Bob Hardy, and Paul Thomson. The beginning of this war was ridiculous to the point of absurdity, with tragic consequences, and that is exactly the story. A ridiculous, illogical, tragic, and deadly war. It all began on a beautiful day with six members of a Serbian underground group who decided to assassinate the Austro Hungarian heir to the throne, Franz Ferdinand. Or more accurately, they were chosen because they suffered from tuberculosis, a terminal disease at the time, which made this suicide mission seem almost trivial to them. Franz Ferdinand’s motorcade passed through the streets of Sarajevo. The first assassin who was supposed to shoot him did not do so because he could not find a good position. The second threw a stick of dynamite at the convoy, jumped into the river, and swallowed a cyanide pill. The pill did not work. He was pulled from the water and beaten severely. Franz Ferdinand emerged completely unharmed from the explosion and continued to his destination. On the way back, his driver made a wrong turn and entered a dead end street. As the driver attempted to reverse, Gavrilo Princip pulled out a pistol and shot the heir to the throne and his wife at close range. The bullet that struck Franz Ferdinand was the opening shot of an event that would change the face of the world, World War I. Ninety years later, a friendly Scottish quartet from Glasgow decided that the story of the heir to the throne was important enough to name their band after him. “One of the things that brought us together was a shared hatred of elitism,” says singer and guitarist Alex Kapranos. “I loathe elitism in music. It’s one of the ugliest things. Even thirteen-year-old girls deserve to hear decent music.” “I love subversion and I love pop music. Put them together and you get moments of magic.” “We’re basically just four guys making music and having a laugh,” Kapranos says, proving that life can have a positive vibe even for rock stars of his kind. “Franz Ferdinand” arrived with plenty of harmonies and humor inspired by Britpop, slightly reminiscent of 1990s Blur, along with fun, funky guitars and a lot of groove tailor made for the dance floor. The album is bursting with potential and packed with lyrics that carry surprising satire, sharp wit, and shameless romance. None of these tricks were new in 2004 when they released their debut album on "Domino Records". Still, few used these devices better than Kapranos, Thomson, the only Scot in the band, Bob Hardy, and Nick McCarthy. Alex Kapranos and Paul Thomson met at a party, struck up a close friendship, and played together in “Yummy Fur”, later beginning to write songs together. Around the same time, Kapranos taught his friend Bob Hardy how to play bass after Hardy received a bass guitar from Mick Cooke of the band “Belle and Sebastian”. Kapranos met rhythm guitarist Nick McCarthy, who had returned to Scotland after studying bass guitar and playing in a fusion and ethnic world music band in Munich, Germany. He also played double bass, cello, and the Arabic oud. After the members came together, they settled on the name “Franz Ferdinand” for the band. The name was originally inspired by a racehorse called Archduke Ferdinand. After seeing the horse win at Northumberland Plate in 2001, the band began discussing Archduke Franz Ferdinand and thought it would make a good band name because of the sharp sound of the name and the implications of the Archduke’s death. By mid 2002, “Franz Ferdinand” had recorded material for an EP they intended to release themselves, but word of mouth about the band spread quickly and they signed with Domino in May 2003. Shortly afterward, the band headed to Malmö, Sweden to work with Swedish producer Tore Johansson, who had successfully produced all the albums by the Swedish rock band “The Cardigans”. After a restrained start with the debut single "Darts of Pleasure" , the second single "Take Me Out"  arrived and changed everything. It opens like a fairly standard post-Strokes indie rock track, then suddenly shifts gears. The tempo drops unexpectedly, a funky rhythm takes over, and the song locks into a fantastic chorus and an unforgettable guitar riff that makes your body move side to side almost automatically. Songwriter Alex Kapranos explained that the idea for the song’s theme came from watching a sniper duel in Enemy at the Gates, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, and that “it felt like a really good metaphor for the kind of romantic situations we sometimes find ourselves in.” The call-and-response guitar riff and the vocal melody were inspired by blues musician Howlin' Wolf. “That image of the two snipers really stayed with me,” Kapranos said. “It felt like a really good metaphor for the kind of romantic situations we sometimes find ourselves in. You know, where you both know you’re into each other, but neither of you wants to reveal your vulnerability and make the first move, to let the other one know how you feel.” With the third single, "The Dark Of The Matinee" , they delivered a massive radio hit centered on the “utopian environment” of an afternoon theater performance. Meanwhile, "Michael"  is a love song directed explicitly at a man. Frontman Alex Kapranos stated in an interview with the British magazine "Boyz" that the song was written about two of his friends. “It was one night when the band and I went out with friends from Glasgow, and we went to a warehouse dance party called Disco X. And those two friends really connected in a very sexy way.” The song contains a hidden message between 1:35 and 1:39 that says (if played backwards), “She worries about you, call your mother,” as a nod to bassist Bob Hardy’s concern, after he insisted he urgently needed to call his mom. The album’s opening track "Jacqueline"  was inspired by a story told to Kapranos by a friend about an encounter with an older man. He recalled, “When she described it, I could see the embarrassment and rejection he experienced when he realized how she actually saw him, as opposed to how he thought she saw him.” Although the album is made up largely of upbeat music, it closes ironically with a reflective look toward the future. The ominous references to blood and forty feet in "40'"  have often been interpreted as transparent allusions to suicide. The band has stated, however, that the song is more about throwing yourself into a difficult situation than jumping from a railway bridge. For Listening : Spotify , Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

Written By: Moti Kupfer Release date - 09.02.1984 “You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need.” On February 9, 1993, Mick Jagger  released his third solo album, “Wandering Spirit”. The 1980s were not kind to Mick Jagger and "The Rolling Stones". As the decade progressed, the band increasingly struggled to find its place. Internal tensions escalated, particularly between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards , eventually reaching a point that was close to a complete breakdown in communication. This strain was clearly reflected in their albums from that era, which delivered fewer and fewer standout moments. The decline was especially noticeable on “Undercover” and “Dirty Work”. By 1988, with the 1980s nearing their end, a conflicted and frustrated Mick Jagger received a phone call from his bandmate Keith Richards . The two talked and reconciled.“Breathing space is a blessed thing, but I tried to keep the band together,” Richards would later say. Jagger, who had taken several blows to his ego during the 1980s, failed film roles and two solo albums that left only a minor impression, was now in a different place, calmer and more at peace. Following their reconciliation, “The Rolling Stones” released the album that firmly put them back in control of the wheel in 1989, “Steel Wheels”. At the same time, “The Rolling Stones” embarked on a massive world tour. After its conclusion, bassist Bill Wyman officially left the band in January 1993. Once the tour was over, the remaining members took a break in order to focus on individual solo projects. Entering the 1990s, Jagger was already a more mature and grounded artist. He was looking to reestablish himself as a solo performer, and he set his sights on Rick Rubin as the producer for his next album. Rubin, an American Jewish producer who co founded the record label “Def Jam” in the early 1980s, became a key force in bringing rap and hip hop into the mainstream, working with artists such as “Beastie Boys”, “Public Enemy”, and “Run D.M.C.”. At the time, he had just completed the successful production of “Electric” by “The Cult”, followed by the meteoric success of “Blood Sugar Sex Magik”, the album that transformed “Red Hot Chili Peppers” from a relatively small funk rock band into a major rock act. During that same period, Rubin was also working on the debut album of the bar band “The Red Devils”, who looked to his label “Def American Recordings” as their home. Rubin persuaded Jagger to sing together with “The Red Devils”, recording thirteen old blues songs, all performed live with Mick singing in real time. After listening back to the recordings, Rubin realized that Jagger was thriving vocally and sounding especially strong within a blues framework. Although Jagger himself did not enjoy the connection with “The Red Devils”, and none of those recordings made it onto his third solo album “Wandering Spirit”, the direction had been set. Rubin guided Jagger toward an album largely rooted in funk (“ Sweet Thing ”), blues (“ Don’t Tear Me Up ”), gospel (“ Out of Focus ”), country (“ Evening Gown ”), rockabilly, and straight ahead rock and roll (“ Wired All Night ”). Rubin assembled an impressive group of musicians in the studio, elevating the album’s overall sound. Some were well known names, including Lenny Kravitz , who sings alongside Jagger on “Use Me” , a cover of the Bill Withers classic, Flea from “Red Hot Chili Peppers”, and Billy Preston. Alongside them were less widely known players, such as saxophonist Courtney Pine, who delivers several outstanding moments on “Sweet Thing” , “Use Me” , and “Think” , as well as Benmont Tench from “Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers”. Jagger himself sounds as if he had deliberately worked on refining his voice. This is especially noticeable in the vocal acrobatics he displays on the album’s opening single, the groove heavy “Sweet Thing” , where he effortlessly drops down and climbs back up through different registers. The track carries a clear echo of “Miss You”  by “The Stones”, both in feel and rhythmic swagger. The second half of the album shifts into a more intimate space, presenting a lonelier Mick Jagger, searching for love, pleading with his partner, and confessing how deeply he misses her when she is gone. This emotional core is most clearly expressed in the beautiful ballad “Angel in My Heart” . The album then closes on a surprising note with a short, rustic Irish folk tune titled “Handsome Molly” , a piece inspired by a song written by Mike Seeger. The album’s cover artwork was created by American portrait and celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz. Her body of work includes iconic album covers for Bruce Springsteen , MC Hammer, and Cyndi Lauper, as well as the deeply intimate photograph of John Lennon  and Yoko Ono, taken on the very day Lennon was murdered. For Listening : Spotify , Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

On February 9, 1972, "Scorpions" released their debut album "Lonesome Crow". It's a different and special album that did not sound like anything else at the time it came out. A mix of Heavy Rock, Progressive and Psychedelia, a kind of musical salad that probably lies in the fact that the band was still in its infancy and had no musical direction yet, but hey, who cares? It is a great salad. "Scorpions" was formed by Rudolf Schenker in the industrial city of Hanover, western Germany, in 1965, but the hard core of the band only began to form in 1970 with the joining of singer Klaus Meine and Rudolf's brother, guitarist Michael Schenker , who was only 15 at the time. Later on, Lothar Heimberg on bass and vocals and Wolfgang Dziony on drums, percussion and vocals joined as well. In 1972 the band won a young bands talent contest and as a result they got to record a single that included the songs " Action " and " I'm Going Mad ". Although the single was not eventually released, the recording was sent to the record company "Brain", a company from Hamburg that specialized in underground, experimental, progressive music, known as the "Krautrock" genre. The same "Brain" has worked with bands that have become leaders in the genre, such as "Neu!", "Cluster" and "Guru Guru". This label, which was known for the free hand it gives to their artists, was enthusiastic about the wild and unique style that the members of "Scorpions" brought from Hanover and the fact that they chose to sing in English, so they decided to fund an album for them. They paired them with producer Conny Plank who also produced "Cluster" and "Neu!" and thus the craft of creating the album that will bring "Scorpions" into the world has begun. It is interesting to note, that producer Conny Plank was an esteemed and well-known producer in the krautrock, prog and psychedelic scene in Germany, but not only. Later he will also produce albums for bands like "Kraftwerk" and even "Killing Joke", "Eurhythmics" and "Ultravox". So as we mentioned above, the musical salad in this album is very hard to define, but who cares about genre definitions if it sounds great. The album opens up with " I'm Goin' Mad " and the thunderous rolling drums accompanied by Wolfgang's percussion, joined after about 20 seconds by Rudolf Schenker 's rhythm guitar and Lothar's beating bass. It's not clear to us why, but this opening that combines the drums and percussion, reminds us of another amazing opening to Deep Purple's third album with the song "Chasing Shadows". But the real magic of the song begins precisely when Michael Schenker , Rudoloff's younger brother who was only 16 at the time of the recordings, comes in with the first guitar solo and the guitar sound that is so reminiscent of Tony Iommi's early days. From there we continue with the monotonous rhythm and the ecclesiastical background vocals, accompany us to Michael's second solo and the feeling that this young guy is only getting better as we delve deeper into the song. And what an amazing bass work by Lothar, taking care of breaking the monotony and vocal chorus from time to time with interesting lines. Only in 2:30 minutes into the song we finally get to hear Klaus Meine 's singing, that makes it clear to us that he is walking in the arid desert, in the hot and scorching sun and he just "goes crazy ..." and another amazing solo by Michael Schenker and another one and this song is just an amazing psychedelic trip rock. In the second track " It All Depends " we are already picking up rhythm and taking off gloves ahead of a two-second drum guitar fight, that is interrupted by Klaus' scream "Yeahhhhhhh" and the guitar-drums return for the second round of the battle. When Klaus starts singing, jazz elements get mixed into his singing that mix with Michael Schenker's metal riff and it just does not sound like anything else, we already said that, right? And Sorry, but Rudolf's guitar chuckles at 0:45 into the song reminds us again of the third "Deep Purple". From there we get into an instrumental section that may sound like improvisation, but it's just accurate and wonderful and the bass work there is just brilliant. At 2:45, suddenly, out of nowhere, a break, and another pause, and Wolfgang's crazy rollers on the drum set comes right after, shake and resonate even five decades later. " Leave Me " opens with the blowing wind effect and the sounds of the obscured strings. A psychedelic atmosphere that is amplified with the sudden moaning of the guitar and the bass guitar line that comes right after it. But from there everything turns upside down and the song becomes a kind of German chanson with jazzy guitar sentences, bluesy vocals and sweet background sounds planted somewhere in 1950s pop, with psychedelic guitar noises continuing in the background. Towards the middle of the song Michael marvels at his playing with a bluesy solo and a dirty guitar sound, with the psychedelic guitar noises constantly lingering in the background. In the 4th minute of the song or so, a break, a change of rhythm and everyone takes a lot of air towards the crazy run that will accompany us until the end of the song. The fourth track that also closes the first side of the vinyl - " In Search of the Peace of Mind " is perhaps the most prog-rock song on the album. It opens with a marsh rhythm and guitar solo and then downshifts with Klaus Meine 's vocals accompanied by bass guitar, and the song suddenly becomes quiet and melancholy with arpeggio chords and an electrifying solo. The song gradually develops, but just when we are sure that there's a climax coming up ahead, we are sucked through a black hole into a calm and melancholy section, with the wind blowing in our ears at the background. But in Prog, as in Prog, it's not over 'til it's over and Klaus' singing changes from soothing to screaming and now it is clear that the search for peace of mind has been crowned a great failure ... And if that interests you, then at the beginning of 2021 Michael Schenker had a closer when he included a crazy rendition of this song he had written almost 50 years earlier, in his album "IMMORTAL". The other side of the vinyl opens up with " Inheritance " and continues the formula of short vocal sections with lots of guitar solos, pounding bass lines and precise jams. And yet again the young Michael Schenker sounds to us like Ritchie Blackmore when he was young in the first lineup of "Deep Purple", in the first solo set off in the 1:35. What an amazing playing and it just was not perceived that this kid was only 16 when the album was recorded. Then again we witness dynamic changes in rhythms and style, which accompany us until the end of the song. " Action " opens up with a jazz style and more or less at 1:20 it makes a conversion to blues. Then another style change and another change of rhythm and the soft chords are replaced by a crazy solo and the relaxed singing is replaced by "Ian Gillanish" screams. Then, another frantic guitar solo that accompanies us until the end of the song. The album ends up with the theme song " Lonesome Crow ", which is a long musical journey. It starts with weird sounds and effects produced from the guitars of Rudolf and Michael and it stretches over thirteen minutes, with a psychedelic Prog section that features a long jam session full of reverb and delay effects and a weird vocal section with no words. The jam evolves and intensifies with Michael Schenker 's mighty solo that simply launches us into outer space and leads us to another vocal section of Klaus Meine . The song ends, of course, with another short solo. After the release of the album, the band went on a tour, during which they where the warm-up show of the British band "UFO". Phil Mogg - "UFO" lead singer, was very impressed with the charismatic performance of the young and virtuoso player, Michael Schenker , so he offered him to join his band. Michael agreed and left "Scorpions" as early as 1973, even before the band began recording their second album. Michael Schenker will be replaced by another giant guitarist, Uli Jon Roth, with the help of whom the band will design its style and formulate it for the big breakthrough that is yet to come. For Listening: Spotify , Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

Well, now it is already been clear! Since the development of the new decade our heroes have decided to challenge us musically: "Pearl Jam", "Incubus", "Foo Fighters", "Smashing Pumpkins" and also "Stone Temple Pilots" the subject of our review. All have released different albums, different from their "comfort zone"! Bands that drove with us for years on the highway took the exit out of it and got off Highway 6 at the "Magic" interchange. Those of us who lingered, blinked and were not quick to make a decision, missed the exit and will have to wait for the next exit to join the musical journey of these artists and others, who have undergone a process of change in recent years, some will say blessed and some will say misfortune. On February 7, 2020, Stone Temple Pilots released their eighth studio album - "Perdida". We admit, this time we were not among those virtuous individuals who got off the highway on time, maybe it's the taste, maybe it's the age that works negatively on our musical reflexes, but we must admit that at first hearing it sounds detached, unconnected, "lost" just like the translation of the title Perdida from Spanish. But as we listened more to this album, we felt we were able to recover from the initial shock and slowly align the range towards teaming up with the band and the album, and slowly joining those virtuous individuals, quick to make a decision that never cut off contact. Photo: Michelle Shiers The friends from San Diego have been through quite a few upheavals over the years. The addictions, the quarrels, the problems of behavior, the parting not one song but two. But in 2018 things seem to be getting more connected for the grunge scene veterans, with the album bearing the band's name and with the new singer coming out of "X Factor" Jeff Gutt. It seems that the choice to label the 2018 album with the band's name was not a random decision, and it marked a kind of new beginning for STP. Later we got them to perform here in Tel Aviv and witnessed with our own eyes the growing connection and the chemistry that is being formed between the old friends and their new frontman. But just when we thought we would continue to get more from that old and familiar STP, "Perdida" arrived, preying on the cards and making it clear to us how right John Lennon was when he wrote that life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans. In this album we found no trace of the raw and biting STP of the 1990s. It's not even quite the same band we knew in the acoustic tracks from the album " Purple " and the like, and it created a certain disappointment for us. But then suddenly a miraculous thing happened. In the third or fourth listening we were able to understand what they wanted to tell us. We were able to hear the acoustic Chris Cornell of " Euphoria Mourning " and " Higher Truth " to the tune of " Fare Thee Well " and the guitars and percussion of " Three Wishes ". We recognized Steve Howe 's classic and unique playing style in the theme song " Perdida ", and we got deja vu from the album "Led Zeppelin III" upon hearing the opening of " She's My Queen ". We brought up fond memories of the sounds of the violin solo on the waltz " Miles Away " that managed to take us back to another immortal violin from Bob Dylan 's song "One More Cup of Coffee", from the masterful album "Desire", and the flutes? Yes, yes there are also flutes that sometimes hover over the music and are reminiscent of "Camel" or "Focus" as in the " I Didn't Know the Time " and sometimes aggressive and cheeky reminiscent of "Jethro Tull" as in the song " She's My Queen ". The melody and vocals on " Years " sounded to us like Lenny Kravitz and the saxophone solo there threw us into progressive tracks from the 1970s. And there's even a not-so-bad instrumental piece - " I Once Sat at Your Table ". So true, it's not a typical "STP" album and you will not be able to hear here even one rough riff or a small power cord for the cure. True, there is nothing different or innovative here, but there is still an album here that manages to make us miss past and beautiful times, manages to elaborate on the capillaries of emotion and reminds us how much fun it is to suddenly press the brake, just halfway, and break out into a side road, Seeing the scenery, smelling nature and living the moment, a magical break, in the middle of all the hustle and bustle around. So let's hit the brakes for a moment, stop the demanding routine for three quarters of an hour and listen to this magical album at: Spotify , Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

A Sneak Peek... And this time... about the first time "R.E.M." Entered the studio. On February 8, 1981, singer Michael Stipe , guitarist Peter Buck, drummer Bill Berry and bassist Mike Mills entered the recording studio for the first time. It happened at the "Bombay" studio in Smyrna, Georgia, USA, and the goal was to record their first single that would start their wonderful career: "Radio Free Europe". Three songs will be recorded during the sessions: "Gardening At Night", "Radio Free Europe" and "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville", with "Radio Free Europe" being released as the band's first single and gaining local success on student radio stations. In the area. (Photo: Soundonsound.com) This local success will attract the attention of the "I.R.S. Records" company, which will sign the band on a recording contract, under which the band will release their first EP "Chronic Town", in 1982. Later, in 1983, the band released their debut album "Murmur", which was praised by critics and even won a "Rolling Stone" Magazine Critics' Album of the Year album, bypassing Michael Jackson's "Thriller". For Listening to the song: Spotify "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

A Sneak Peek... And this time about a historic and groundbreaking moment that was the opening chord to the glorious career of "Iron Maiden." On February 8, 1980, "Iron Maiden" released it's first single ever - " Running Free ". The single was released about two months before the band's debut album was released, in April 1980. The song was written by bassist Steve Harris and singer Paul Di'Anno. The lyrics are a kind of autobiography about the singer's life, as a 16-year-old disturbed child, rebellious, breaking the rules and free. The single cover picture is also historic as it presents the character of Eddie, who will accompany the band to this day, for the first time. Another historic moment associated with this single, is the fact that the band members refused to play it with a playback on the British "Top Of The Pop" tv show, aired on the BBC channel. This was a weekly music tv program, where the artists would perform their songs with a playback. Since the band members didn't want to appear with a playback, the program producers finally relented and allowed the band to perform the song live. Thus, the band became the first to perform a song on the "TOTP" tv show live, since 1974 when "The Who" did so. The show one of the few recorded performances with guitarist Dennis Stratton, who will later be replaced by Adrian Smith. To listen to a song: Spotify "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

On February 8, 1993, during "Alice in Chains’" performance at "Cirkus" in Stockholm, Sweden, frontman Layne Staley took an unforgettable stand against Nazism and racism. (Photo: Tim Mosenfelder) It was during "Alice in Chains’" European tour with "Screaming Trees", and about a month after bassist Mike Inez replaced Mike Starr. At a time when the band was at the peak of their success with "Dirt", the concert took an unexpected turn when a Nazi skinhead in the crowd began making offensive gestures and physically attacking other fans in the mosh pit. Staley, known for his no-nonsense attitude, wasn’t about to let it slide. As tensions grew, right after the band finished playing “It Ain’t Like That” Staley paused the show and directed his attention toward the man causing trouble. Instead of simply calling him out from the stage or asking he would escorted out of the venue, he invited him up, catching both the crowd and his bandmates off guard. Security helped the skinhead climb onto the stage, and just as the audience braced for what would happen next, Staley landed two punches before pushing him off the stage. The crowd erupted in applause and cheers, fully backing the singer’s decisive action. Before returning to the performance, Staley leaned into the microphone and shouted: "Fucking Nazis die!". Apparently the whole show was filmed so you can watch the incident at around 47:00 min. of the video: Although the incident was met with overwhelming support from fans, the man reported Staley to the police, prompting an investigation. By the time Swedish authorities attempted to locate him, Layne Staley and the band’s guitar tech, Randy Biro, had already board a ferry to Finland. However, the rest of "Alice in Chains" - Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney and Mike Inez were detained, and their passports were confiscated until Staley returned. When he eventually faced questioning, the situation took an unexpected turn—the man’s own brother defended the band, siding with Staley. After a short interview, Swedish police dropped the case. The full show setlist: Dam That River We Die Young Them Bones Would? Love, Hate, Love Junkhead God Smack Bleed the Freak Put You Down Sickman It Ain't Like That Rooster Dirt Hate to Feel Encore: Angry Chair Man in the Box "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook / Instagram or Subscribe to our website

Written By: Moti Kupfer Release date - 08.02.1974 “I agree with you that the past is a source of melancholy but I like melancholy and have never found it to be the same thing as moroseness or sadness. I’ve always enjoyed being melancholy, perhaps because that mood is very much a feature of the environment where I grew up. It’s a very bleak place and most visitors find it quite miserable. I don’t think it’s miserable but it’s definitely a sort of lost place in a lost time — nothing has changed in this part of England for many hundreds of years.” Brian Peter George St. Jean le Baptiste de la Salle Eno was born in May 1948 in the town of Melton, Suffolk, England. His full name is unquestionably a tongue-twister, so we will simply refer to him as Brian Eno. He would later become best known as the inventor of the “ambient music” genre and as a visionary producer behind landmark albums such as “Remain in Light”, “ The Joshua Tree ”, and David Bowie’s so-called “Berlin Trilogy”. But even before he emerged as a groundbreaking producer, Eno was already creating the music of tomorrow, here and now. Eno took the rules of music and stretched them to their human limits. He took fundamentally pop-based songs and dismantled them in order to explore unusual and unconventional sounds on his debut solo album “Here Come the Warm Jets”, released on February 8, 1974. This happened shortly after he left the band Roxy Music, with whom he recorded two albums. As a young man, Eno attended the Catholic grammar school in Ipswich, where he began listening to records by African-American R&B artists, blues, and doo-wop performers. He drew particular inspiration from "the Lafayettes", the New York duo Don and Juan, "the Shirelles", and Little Richard, all of whom he regarded as key American musical figures. He was also inspired by the Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, whom he first encountered while staying at the home of his uncle, Carl Otto Eno, who owned an art collection. By 1964, after studying art and mathematics, Eno developed a strong interest in both art and music and lost any desire for conventional employment. In 1966, Eno enrolled at Winchester School of Art, graduating in 1969. While at Winchester, he attended a lecture by Pete Townshend , guitarist of “The Who”, which he later described as the moment he realized that one could create music without formal training. During his studies, Eno began using a tape recorder as a musical instrument. Toward the end of 1967, Eno co-founded the “Merchant Taylor’s Simultaneous Cabinet”, an avant-garde music and performance trio formed with two fellow Winchester graduates. This was followed by short stints in several experimental bands, some of which featured Eno as a theatrical frontman while also playing guitar. In 1969, following his separation from his wife, Eno moved to London, where his musical career began to accelerate. He became involved with the Scratch Orchestra and the Portsmouth Sinfonia. At one point, he was forced to earn money working as a paste-up assistant in the advertising section of a local newspaper. Two years later, in 1971, Eno joined “Roxy Music” alongside Bryan Ferry and Andy Mackay. Reflecting on the role of chance in his career, Eno later said: “I had the opportunity to meet saxophonist Andy Mackay at a railway station, which led to my joining the band. If I’d walked ten yards further on the platform or missed that train or been on the next one, I would probably be an art teacher now.” Eno, who had known Mackay since their university days, shared with him a mutual fascination with the avant-garde and electronic music. After the “For Your Pleasure” tour ended in mid-1973, Eno left the band following creative disagreements with Bryan Ferry, which limited his ability to fully integrate his ideas. After leaving “Roxy Music”, Eno collaborated with Robert Fripp , guitarist and founder of “King Crimson”. The album they worked on took more than a year to complete and made extensive use of a pioneering system later known as “Frippertronics”. The result is widely regarded as a breakthrough that paved the way for future developments in experimental and ambient music. In 1973, filmmaker Alfie Singer directed and produced “Eno”, a 24-minute British documentary centered on the recording sessions for Eno’s first studio album, “Here Come the Warm Jets”. At the time, Eno was an avant-garde keyboardist and composer who had just left “Roxy Music” to become a solo artist. As the film demonstrates, the abstract electronics, space-age atmosphere, and layered vocal textures he created were still relatively new to rock music in the early 1970s. The EMS VCS 3 synthesizer that Eno used during his time with “Roxy Music” also played a central role on his debut solo album. The instrument featured a built-in joystick for sound effects and allowed external keyboards and other instruments to be connected for signal processing. Alongside the VCS 3, Eno used electronic keyboards, vocal-altering electronics, and tape loops to create immersive textures and droning effects. Despite appearances, science-fiction sounds do not dominate the album. At the core of each song lies a glam-rock sensibility. Eno’s use of electronics serves primarily as coloration and texture, shifting emotional states by introducing menace into an upbeat song or hysteria into a piece rooted in rock and roll. “Here Come the Warm Jets” revolves around contrasts and constant movement between rock’s past and its future. The album was recorded in just twelve days and brought together a diverse group of musicians, including Phil Manzanera and Andy Mackay from “Roxy Music”, Robert Fripp in return for their earlier collaboration, Simon King of “Hawkwind”, bassist John Wetton, and bassist Busta Jones, known for his work with Albert King, “Talking Heads”, and “Gang of Four”. “One of the important things about the synthesiser was that it came without any baggage… When you play an instrument that does not have any such historical background you are designing sound basically.” The album’s artistic coherence emerged from Eno’s judgment, his selection of sounds, and their integration with traditional instruments. In the documentary, Eno described himself artistically as “decadent”, meaning that his music existed “half from one culture that is dying and half from another culture that is just being born”. Most of the songs on the album are open to interpretation, with the exception of “The Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch” , which tells the story of William Underwood, a young African-American man from Paw Paw, Michigan, who claimed to possess pyrokinesis, briefly becoming a local celebrity in 1882. Following the album’s release, Eno was interviewed by a young NME journalist named Chrissie Hynde , who asked him about “On Some Faraway Beach” , the song that famously layered 27 piano parts and was inspired by a dream. Eno replied: “You mean ‘On Some Faraway Beach’. It wasn’t only inspired - all the words to that occurred in the dream. I quite often wake up and write my dreams down because I find them so mysterious.” “I find the dreams are always much more brilliant in their construction than anything I consciously think of. On that particular one, I just woke up with all these words in my head and I wrote them straight down in the dark. When writing from dreams, you don’t feel any responsibility for what you do, which is important to me.” For some time, the album title was suspected to have a reference to urination. However, in a 1996 interview with Mojo magazine, Eno explained that it originated from a description he wrote for the treated guitar on the title track: "The title Warm Jets came from the guitar sound on the track of that name, which I described on the track sheet as ‘warm jet guitar’, because the guitar sounded like a tuned jet". For Listening : Spotify , Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

Editor's Choice... And this time... "Marquee Moon" by "Television", which was released on February 8, 1977. This is the band's debut album. It's considered one of the influential albums on the development of Alternative Rock, Punk, Indie and even New Wave genres. "Television" is an American band from New York. They formed in 1973 and was among the leaders in the Punk scene of the 70s in New York. The band has performed regularly at the legendary "CBGB" Club in New York since 1974, and has slowly built a fan base that has caught the eye of the "Electra" record label. Although the band's style and album genre are defined under the Punk, the band has concocted an ingenious musical mix that is far beyond that, to the point that it simply cannot be cataloged. If the idea of Punk was to create simple, uncomplicated music, with a basic musical structure, which does not include more than two or three chords, then "Television" took it a few steps further and fused into their music motifs of Classical Rock, Jazz, Psychedelia, Garage and Avant-Gard. But the dissonance between the band's definition under Punk and the album's content, does not end there. Most of the songs on this album are songs of over 5 minutes, with the theme song exceeding 10 minutes. Just a perfect antithesis to Punk genre. It's also an album based on guitars, not those of two three basic "power cords", but of melodic playing, guitar lines and solos of two talented and virtuoso guitarists, which make this album the best guitar album the Punk scene has ever known (if it sticks to the definition anyway). The collaboration of Richard Lloyd and Tom Verlaine is simply divine, they swap guitar roles, cross guitar lines and solos, share melodies and produce twin harmonies. It is very difficult even impossible to define the style of the album. It is unique, special and different from anything else. It has won many accolades from both, fans and critics and received a perfect score from each and every one of the various magazines and rankings sites. "Rolling Stone", "Q Magazine", "Mojo", "Sputnikmusic", "Allmusic" and more, all gave this album a 5/5 score. "Marquee Moon" influenced bands such as "Sonic Youth", "REM", "Pixies", "Echo & the Bunnymen" and even "Joy Division", where the excellent guitar work in it was a role model for guitarists like The Edge , John Frusciante and many more. This album is also on the "Rolling Stone magazine" top 500 album list. And now you just have to listen to it: Spotify , Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website